What if when you sat down for math you first marked off a whole bunch of problems you wont do? Like say hey, we aren't going to do all or even most of the problems on the page, you pick the first 3 and I will pick 3 and that is all we will do. Then let him help you cross out the ones you wont do. he might enjoy taking a fat black marker to those evil math problems lol. Or... work off the math mamoth page, and just know the lesson yourself. Teach him the concept, and write 6 problems on another page that is totally separate. I would be hesitant to drop math all together. Talk to him about it when you aren't expecting him to do math. Ask him what he thinks would make math easier. Like Maybe tomorrow say, "hey we aren't going to do math today but we are going to talk about it. Will you help me find a better way to make this work for both of us" Then give him your ideas and see what he says. Maybe knowing that he wont have to do it that day will help him talk about it more. FWIW I like the math mammoth too. I think it does a good job without being overly flashy but sometimes I do feel it goes a bit overkill on practice problems Christina

Oh yeah I could never trust mine with most of the things (as my walls are a testament to). For the messy stuff I put her in the high chair. And we school at the table right next to her. The biggest problem comes when I give her a limited number of options and my oldest thinks she needs them all. Like I pull out 2 puzzles and he pulls out 10 more for her. NOT COOL. He gets to clean up the mess and I lecture him for the 50 billionth time to stop trying to play mommy and I actually know what I am doing. Christina

I have a reluctant math guy. He is actually really good at math, tests well above but he psyches himself out or something. Its really frustrating something and he HATES math. We use Math Mammoth and I wont change cause I think he has learned alot from it. BUT we decided to take the plunge and try LOF. LOF helped me do things a bit differently, changing the way I focus with him. Mine is older than yours... 5th grade. And we decided to start at the begining with LOF... So he has started with apples. I am glad too because there is a ton of concepts they teach right from the beginning. Anyways we revamped things in January and so far I think it has gone well. I talked to him about it. Told him I understood he didn't prefer math even though he was good at it (I wanted to emphasis he is not bad at math like he thinks/claims he is). Then I made a deal with him. We would do only 15 minutes of math a day. Teacher intensive minutes. We literally set a timer and go through the lesson quickly and practice a few problems. The idea is I can teach him the concept and give him a rounded sample of math problems to see if he understands. If he does we move on without doing the other 20 + problems. Not making him do them all has really helped. If he struggles we go over it and over it until he gets it. I don't move on. Some days we only do one page other days we fly through 8 cause it just clicks. Why make him drill and kill over it? When the timer goes off we finish the problem we are on and close the book. He also does Fred every day. Right now since we started at the begining he is going through 1 book a week. He likes it and doesn't complain. Actually he picks it up and does it while he is eating breakfast every morning. My plan is to still make him do MM until the end of 5th grade. I am still in the evaluation process but I would like him to just do the fractions decimals and percents and start the pre-algebra stuff next year. If I feel confident enough I will skip MM6 and go with only fred then (I have heard 6 is alot of review I just need to make sure). I think he will be thrilled to get rid of MM lol. I still really like MM and my 4th grader does well with it (he loves fred as well but I will still make my kids do MM through 5th I think. He is excited for only fred even though I explained to him by that point it will be a much harder version of Fred. Christina

I have a little schedule/rotation for my 2 year old. The things we routinely pull out water colors playdough (I just homemake it though) Puzzles sorting items ( I have these large buttons from oriental trading that come in a number of different colors and shapes and she sorts them into little bins by color or shape and they're big enough to not be a chocking hazard) Pipe cleaners (they can be fun and are useful for homeschool too, I make my 9 yr old spell his hardest words with them) stamps and washable stamp pads markers, crayons, etc And the one she LOVES... my kindle fire. Yeah I used to think never give let littles play video games or watch tv. Um yeah I lost that battle with myself. In my defense she has her own screen with all educational games and books and with spend quite a chunk of time with it. I hand it over any time we really need some quiet time to focus on something with the HSing kids. I have it in a more childproof case as well as having some pretty strict rules for it. It stays on my bed and she/they are not to leave my bed with it. So far so good and it is such a life saver during those times I really just need a half hour to focus with the others. Christina

I think I am going to do something similar to the memoria press one with my guy next year. I want him to get a 1 year rehash of US history next year, but I will also be doing the story of the world #4 with him so i didnt want it to be too much. Mine do not like too much busy work (worksheets and activities and such). I am not sure I want to fully do the memoria press ones but I will be having him read the two guerber books and then at the least doing some sort of timeline and narrations on every chapter. I figure it will be straight forward and not too difficult.

I can just commiserate. My 9 yr old is a horrible speller. I have tried a couple programs but nothing did fantastic. I think a reason for spelling helped the most. If nothing else it taught me how tactile he was. When he did the more hands on stuff the words stuck better. But again it doesnt show in ihis writing. DH and I talked about it and decided it was either developmental and it will eventually click or is just the way he is/ My DH is a HORRIBLE speller. I am more naturally gifted in that area and am constantly spelling words for DH. I edited all of Dh's papers in college including his thesis. Note my DH is also one of the most intelligent people I know, he just does not spell good. I will have to look at the apples and pears thing. And some more online stuff he would play computer games all day if I let him. Christina

We do four day school week here. We live in a small rural area and the local schools do a 4 day school week. My husband works in the public schools (speech pathologist) and his mom and sister (who live a block away) also work in the public schools. So we felt it was just best to stick to that schedule. Plus I dont know how others do it but we tend to get lazy when DH is home. We all just want to play so its really quite important we have most of our school work done in the alloted 4 days. I don't let my kids get off other school holidays though the concept of a 3 day week is ridiculous and I cannot see how it would work for me (presidents day, etc). We do take off christmas and spring break. If your concerned about planning breaks you can do it a number of ways. Go with the local school schedule. Make "terms" up where you do 6, 8 12? whatever amount of weeks then plan a week off. As for the day to day planning we do it a couple different ways. At the beginning of the year I make a big document with all the assignments for the whole year. I tend to steer away from strictly 5 day a week curriculum but have a few items. For 5 day a week curriculum I see where I can squeeze the work into 4 days if possible. Other than that I plan each subject by lesson number not by week. Then every week I have a chart of sorts made up for the kids with everything I would like them to get done that week. It is saved on the computer so I just need to imput different chapter #s or pages or whatever into it. The top of the page has daily items (piano, spanish, math, LA, etc)and the bottom of the page has things that just need to be done by the end of the week. (Ie we do 2 days science, 2 days history, 4 read alouds and 4 individual readings) I dont care what day they do it so long as it is done by the end of the week. Mine are a bit older than yours (4th and 5th grade) but they love the combination of structure and felexibility. If something doesnt get done for whatever reason it gets put on the next weeks sheet. It takes me maybe 30 minutes on Saturday to make the next weeks list up. Usually less. As they go through I mark my master list off to see how the year in general is progressing. I have wide goals, that they are to a certain point by each quarter. So far it has worked out well this year. Not sur eif that was at all helpful but that is what we do. Christina

I am so not sure how I am going to do it lol. I am expecting my 7th the first week of April. My plan is to take one complete week off and one halfway week and then full swing into things by the following week. It might be all pipe dreams lol but thats my plan. I currently have a just turned 11 year old, a 9 year old, twin 6 year olds, a 4 year old and 2 year old. The twins are in public school (Dad wants them to public school K and first grade), I will bring them home in second grade. So I do have it easier there. But the 4 year old and 2 year old are their own world of challenge. I made up a schedule just for her for the day keeping her well fed and with lots of variety in activities. We do playdough, and sorting, lacing, cars, all sorts of stuff. I just keep her going. If its a good day I try my hardest to get the 2 and 4 year old playing together. They just need to get started and can keep each other occupied for hours. I just need to get them there you know. I have also worked hard at making my kids be as independent as possible. I schedule into my day certain things. I have had to make a few of our read alouds into audio books, I just pause them occasionally to make sure they understand what is going on. It was just too hard to read myself with a toddler jumping on my lap and my 4 year old whining about whatever. My plan for after the baby, I have been trying to stock up some freezer meals. I wont use them every day but they will be there to pull out on the days things don't seem to be going well or the days my husband will be home late. I am like the previous poster, there are ZERO homeschooling resources nearby and I only know two other families who homeschool, one of which does not do it the way I do (I wont go there but they are the kind that make people look down on homeschooling, their kids are way behind and lazy and lack any social skills). I buy everything I need online (thank you amazon prime) including lots of things most people can run to the store for. (I live 4 hours away from a walmart or any similar store). I just tell the kids they can get the school done, or do it in the summer. They are pretty motivated to get it done now. I set the expectation and they seem to follow for the most part. I would say it has been pretty successful, I was a total blob the first 4 months of this pregnancy with terrible morning sickness. And they somehow managed to get it done. Threre were days that were more flops than successes but.... I am sorta turning into a blob now too as I get down to the last month lol. But we are doing okay. Nothing fabulous, our work is taking a tidge bit longer but we are getting it done every day. We will see maybe I will eat my words in a month and come crying on here about how hard it all is but even though I am nervous I am trying my hardest to be optimistic. I think I learned alot when I had my twins about letting go in some areas. It might not all be pretty but it gets done. If I can manage to keep them fed, relatively happy, healthy and my house clean (this doesn't mean its not messy) I figure we are doing okay. We get there eventually. Granted I also have an awesome husband who is pretty helpful and supportive when he is home. Christina

Oh yeah a 9 year old can cook a ton. Just nothing too intensive. No frying, or anything that needs to be kept a close eye on. Which probably shouldnt even be on the menu right now cause you probably cannot devote that kind of time either. I would say she could cook simpler things, and you can buy simpler meals at the store for a bit til things get easier. IE she can cook noodles you can toss in the premade can of spaghetti sauce or alfredo sauce, or just melt some cheese on top. I think the nice thing about kids helping with cooking is that they generally love to do it. My kids LOVE to cook. It also helps with measuring and lots of math discussions. (At least in my house where everything needs to be doubled or tripled). Plus it is something you can stand in the kitchen and direct. So your hands could be busy holding the baby, while telling her what to do. Bonding time and learning what could be better. You could also give her choices on how to help. Not that I think kids need to do everything in the home but they need to contribute as part of the family. So leave choices like, "Hey do you want to hold the baby or clean up the dinner dishes?" Tell her you are having a hard time too. Just be frank and say that you are sturggling getting used to figuring out how to get everything done. Just say point blank, "I need your help sweety" then make a list of things that need to be done and see if she has any ideas on how you could do it or how she could help.

I can tell you I am due to have a baby first week in April and I have no idea how I will do this with a newborn in the swings. My oldest just turned11 and is a huge help. I am a pathological planner and have spent the last few months gearing my kids up for baby. This one will make #7... which ultimately makes chaos lol. With such a large family I can tell you what each is capable of doing every day for their daily chores. My 11 year old can cook simple meals, scrub the bathrooms without reminders how, does his own laundry and I pay him 25 cents a load to do anyone elses loads. 9 year old can cook with supervision (it gets a bit hairy sometimes lol) and can clean bathrooms independently and can do his own laundry. I have twin 6 year olds, they each wipe down bathrooms and pick up front room and dining room every day, they also put their own laundry away. My 4 year old empties the dishwasher every day (twice a day)and her 2 year old sister helps her. I have organized my house for ease of kids helping. My dishes are in a tall cupboard with most dishes lower for the kids (hence the 2 year old can put things away and help set the table). The toilets and bathroom sinks get wipes down every day with a good old baby wipe, non toxic to their little hands and heck if its good enough to wipe a babies bum its good enough to wipe my toilet down daily (I do have 4 boys its a daily necessity to have it wiped down). I actually plan on buying a big stack of paper plates for after the baby comes. If thats what we need we will use it. I also plan to carry the baby around ALOT. Aside from the fact that they tend to be happier when held, I will need to protect the poor little guy from my 2 and 4 year olds...lol. Right now I am only homeschooling the older two. The 6 year olds are in kindergarten at public school. I have told the older two that if they cannot keep up on their studies they will have to homeschool through the summer. They will only get 2 weeks off. (Honestly homeschooling through the summer would be a nightmare in our house I just don't tell them that likely it's a vain threat I can never keep up with) I would definately stick to the basics and make sure you get tested for PPD. I had it bad with my second, when a friend finally pulled me aside and told me I needed to talk to a dr I grudgingly did but will NEVER regret it. I got meds and help and was soon dealing with it all so much better. Babies are hard and emotionally and physically draining. Add anything physically or hormonally imbalanced in momma and you are just looking for slow human torture for everyone. Also I have heard of people easing back into homeschool. Like well today lets just get some math done. And tomorrow we will see if we can do math and some history reading... every day or every week add in one more thing and it wont feel so overwhelming. Oh and totally make menu, or ask your dd to. Even if its hotdogs, sandwiches, mac and cheese, whatever it takes to get you through the next few months. Christina

I just made it a rule in the beginning. Same as my kids tell their friends. The first time they asked I just said, "Oh, sorry honey we don't do sleep overs in our family, but we can have a late night, your friends could come over and we could watch a movie and pop popcorn, and maybe have banana splits for a treat, does that sound fun?" If they are persistent and ask why, I tell them thats just the way our family does it. Then we know everyone is safe at home in bed. I would say something like I want to keep them safe and knowing they are at home in their own bed helps but that doesn't eliminate the concept that we don't do sleep overs at our home either. The specifics discussion comes up when they are much older. I too am interested to see how many people on here don't do sleep overs. I thought we were a rarity. I only know one other family IRL who holds thet same theory we do. Christina

We do not allow sleep overs. Its just a blanket rule in our home. The only exception is when cousins come to visit. Even then boys and girls are separated and bedtimes are enforced. My oldest is 11 now and hasn't slept over at a friends house before. We occasionally have what we call "late nights." Where either I host a friend hosts and we get the kids back home around 11pm ish. I much prefer that. Usually its a movie night, maybe video games or other games, and junk food. I think too many children have been victimized at these events (including my younger brother when he was 9). Its also hard to pick and choose where kids get to stay if you allow sometimes and not others. I grew up with a single father and no one ever let their kids stay the night at my house. I understand as a parent, but I was always very offended, I like it better that my kids answer is "no we dont do sleep overs, but we do do late nights." It's a general rule, unbiased. Aside from being victimized children are also exposed to other inappropriate things (pornography, or inappropriately violent or otherwise movies or video games). Come on truth or dare was never about anything but breaking the rules and testing the limits of what was right and appropriate and seeing what naughty things you could get your friends to do. I do not want my children to have to face damaging their characters in that way or be put through that choice in such a high pressure environment. It am in the minority in my community but honestly my kids haven't begged and pleaded too much. They know the rule, it never changes. (although they occasionally take the opportunity to remind us when some friends slept over when the parents had an emergency and needed overnight childcare, we just use it as a joke and remind them it wont work, good try)

I kind of get the idea she dropped support of the site in general Like she will keep it up but not update or anything. The way she just suddenly closed the yahoo group and took the lessons off the curriculum page and replaced them. And no warning on the yahoo group. One day she was posting about her work with a little one she was bringing into her home for a month or so and next thing the group was gone. I still have them all too and use them (though not exclusively) if anyone needs they can PM me and I can get them to you. She uses really good quotes, and scriptures, and poems. I really like them though I felt we needed something a bit more for writing to add to it. We recently switched to doing her lessons (minus the writing) at the same time as IEW. I feel like that together is a pretyt complete language arts curriculum. Christina

We do 4 day school weeks here. My husband works in the public schools locally as do my mother in law and sister in law (who only live a block away) and the public schools do a 4 day week. With all those fun people home and all the neighborhood kids home on Fridays it was impossible to get school done on Fridays. I do absolutely refuse to do a 3 day week so when public school is out Monday we still school. My hubby is way supportive and takes the opportunity to take all the younger kids to work and get some extra paperwork done in the am and I actually get more focused time. Anyways I steer away from any curriculum that is HIGHLY dependent on a 5 day week. For us we are out when public school is out (with DH and inlaws being out it jsut works best that way). We do a number of subjects daily (Math, language arts, reading, music, spanish, etc) and we rotate a few. We do science 2 days and history the other 2 days. I love it. In fact if you made me go to a 5 day week I would be lost. lol. As it works out 4 day weeks come out to 144 days a year. We work math out to do a bit more than a lesson a day. Some lessons are just easier and so its easy to swing into the next lesson. My kids are used to math assignments being by page number rather than lesson number. Same with many other topics.

Yes the yahoo group mysteriously vanished over Christmas. I have them all saved on my computer (as well as some of the other stuff that vanished from the MA site). I LOVED level A and liked level B but writing was not working for us on it. I think I am going to continue with it with my kids while adding in the IEW stuff her site now recommeds in place of her writing portions. I love the rest of it.